Trafford Borough

Monthly Business Meeting Minutes-Tuesday, June 5, 2018.

The Trafford Borough Council held its monthly business meeting on Tuesday, June 5, 2018, at 7:01 p.m., in the Council Chambers.

Council President, Kris Cardiff, called the meeting to order and led the Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence.

Roll call of attendance by Borough Secretary, Nina Solivan:

(Present) Kris Cardiff, Council President Edward Llewellyn, Mayor

Carol Morrow, Council Vice-President Ashley Stack, Borough Manager

Zach Cole, Councilman Craig Alexander, Solicitor

Lesile Peters Via Phone, Councilwoman Don Glenn, Engineer

Cheryl Petersen, Councilwoman Brian Lindbloom, Fire Chief

Casey Shoub, Councilman

(Absent) Dennis Hockenberry, Councilman John Eliyas, EMC

Minutes- A motion “to accept the minutes of the May 1, 2018, regular business meeting” was made by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilwoman Petersen. The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Payment of Bills- A motion “to approve the expense voucher list dated, June 5, 2018” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilman Cole. The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Borough Engineer-

- Sitira Construction has started work on the Wallace Avenue bridge for the concrete repairs. His work should be completed tomorrow. This will complete the deficiencies listed in the PennDOT inspection report.

- A. Folino will be on site within the next two weeks to replace the Deck on the Wallace Avenue Bridge. The bridge will be down to one lane. A. Folino will be providing traffic control.

- The ADA curb ramps on Cavitt Avenue are 90% complete. The contractor needs to paint the crosswalks.

- Murrysville Road has been delayed due to weather related delays on the subcontractor’s other projects. Inspectors from Glenn Engineering met with the subcontractor and located all the inlets that need replaced. The one call was placed today with a three-day waiting period. All materials have been ordered.

A resident in the audience requested PennDOT be notified and questioned if someone could sweep up the loose material. Don stated he would give them a call.

Public Comment-

Kathy Hewitt 417 Homewood Avenue- Expressed concerns for speeding on Homewood Avenue, lack of street lights, and no stop sign at the intersection of Homewood and Fourth Street. Ms. Hewitt stated there aren’t any speed limit signs on Homewood Avenue, and feels 25 mph is too fast. The lack of street lights can cause an accident, Ms. Hewitt submitted pictures.

Council response: Mayor Llewellyn stated he will pass the speeding issues to the Chief of Police.

Lynnwood Leeman 334 Fourth Street- Mr. Leeman stated the old post office deposit mailboxes that are overgrown with weeds need to be removed. The post office does not use the boxes and the post office does not trim around them. Wants to know how long it will be before the man hole in his backyard will be replaced. The pot hole at the bottom of Catherine Street still needs repaired. Mr. Leeman questioned why the code enforcement officer can’t go around the town for himself instead of people having to file complaints.

Council response: Brian Lindbloom stated the big green boxes are for the carriers, and the blue boxes are for outgoing mail. Borough Manager Stack stated she would notify Mr. Leeman once public works plans to repair the manhole. The code enforcement officer does go around town, in fact today he sent two people down to the borough office for excavation permits because they were digging without one. There are now complaint forms for code violations, the written complaints are being handled first.

Ryan Longaway 326 Fairmont Avenue- Would like code enforcement and law enforcement to be provided with clarification on recreational fires and cooking fires. Our code does allow burning except for yard waste and rubbish. Would like the board to clarify and specify what is allowed.

Council response: Brian Lindbloom stated the purpose of regulation is to limit risk, we should look at re-titling the chapter to open burning. Councilman Cole requested the fire code be placed on the borough website.

Cozy Knapp Time Proposal-

Discussion about the proposal by Cozy Knapp Time to enter into an agreement with the Borough of Trafford, for property on Cavitt Avenue, lots, 504, 506, 508, and 510. The proposed agreement would be for the borough to lease sixteen of the parking spaces located in the lot to Cozy Knapp Time at the rate of $10 per month, per space for a total of $1920.00 paid annually.

A motion “to enter into an agreement with Cozy Knapp Time” was made by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilman Cole.

Mrs. Knapp of Cozy Knapp Time informed council the property at 502 Cavitt Avenue is for sale, there are eight residential units and four commercial units. Currently there is an agreement with the current property owner Mr. Abdulla which ends in May of 2019. With the purchase of the property Cozy Knapp Time would like the agreement to transfer with the property sale. Once the Abdulla agreement expires Cozy Knapp Time would like to enter into a five-year contract to lease sixteen of the parking spaces at the rate of $10 per month, per space for a total of $1920.00 paid annually. The sixteen spaces would allow one vehicles per residential unit and eight dedicated spots to the pizza shop.

Borough Manager Stack recommends Cozy Knapp Time and the Borough enter into a new agreement rather than transferring the old agreement.

Councilman Shoub gave a brief history on the lot and the original agreement. Mr. Abdulla fronted the money to bring the parking lot up to code. Mr. Abdulla then would lease 16 spaces and pay an annual fee up until May of 2019. At the end of May 2019, the borough was to pay Mr. Abdulla back for the lot reconstruction, if the borough did not pay Mr. Abdulla by May 2019 the lot would then become the property of Mr. Abdulla. Councilman Shoub stated the borough paid Mr. Abdulla during the bond. At the end of the five years the borough owns the lot.

Solicitor Alexander stated he likes the idea of a new agreement, with all the new individual’s signatures on it.

Mrs. Knapp questioned if council agrees to the proposal who would be responsible for the snow removal.

Solicitor Alexander stated council needs to sit down and review this further.

A motion “to table the proposal” was made by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilwoman Peters. The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Resolution 06 of 2018-

A motion “to support a citizens’ commission for legislative and congressional redistricting” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilwoman Petersen.

Doug Webster presented information on legislative and congressional redistricting in the State of Pennsylvania. Over 40,000 people have signed petitions for an independent citizens group. Part of my efforts here tonight are to get boroughs, towns and counties to pass a resolution urging our legislator to pass an independent citizens reform. A problem in Pennsylvania is jerrymandering, its damaging to democracy. Some of the counties are so poorly divided they have four or five different representatives. This bill is designed to sharply reduce the amount of slicing and dicing down to streets. People don’t know who they’re supposed to vote for or where they’re supposed to vote.

Councilman Cardiff stated there has been a significant decrease in voters with the March 15, 2018, election there was a lot of confusion, nobody knew who they were voting for and if they were voting. People were showing up at the polls and were being turned away due to it not being their election.

Solicitor Alexander stated a copy of the resolution is included within the packet, it does not have a signature page so I will draw that up so we can get that signed.

The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Amendment of Ordinance 692- A motion “to amend Ordinance 692, chapter 141, to remove the word “bicycles,” from section 141-2(D).” was made by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilman Shoub.

Borough Manager Stack stated with becoming a trail town/ trail head the trail runs alongside BY Park; the ordinance says no bicycles and is contradictory to the trail. The TECDC has purchased a bike rack that they would to place near the trail. Once we remove the word bicycles from the ordinance it does not mean we can’t come up with another sign that says please walk bicycles in the park, or no bikes on grass. The organizations involved can come up with an idea that will direct bicyclists to refrain from riding in the park. The purpose is to eliminate the confusion now that we are a trail head.

Solicitor Alexander stated there are some inconsistencies within the section and we cleaned that up as well.

The motion carried 5-1 Councilwoman Peters voting no.

CEA Agreement- A motion “to approve the CEA 2018 agreement for services” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilwoman Morrow. Borough Manager Stack stated they are our third party UCC building inspectors.

Borough Manager Stack stated CEA is the Boroughs third party UCC Building inspectors, they issue all building permits. They also work with our code enforcement officer for condemnations. CEA has been the third-party building inspectors for Trafford since 2017, this is just a continuation of services. This agreement would be to June 5, 2019.

Councilwoman Peters questioned how much the borough pays for their services. Secretary Solivan stated it is a wash, the permit applicant pays the fee. The borough only pays CEA if there is a court appearance needed.

The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Payment to Jeffery Associates- A motion “to approve the second payment to Jeffery Associates in the amount of $25,128.00 for the Fairmont Playground equipment” was made by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilwoman Peters.

The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Payment to Westmoreland Construction Group, Inc.- A motion “to approve the second payment to Westmoreland Construction Group, Inc in the amount of $16,075.00 for the Fairmont Playground site drainage and restoration” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilwoman Peters. The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Payment to J.M. Paving, Inc.- A motion “to approve the payment to J.M. Paving, Inc., in the amount of $7,350.00 for the Fairmont Playground basketball court paving and wearing course” was made by Councilwoman Peters and seconded by Councilwoman Morrow. The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Appoint SEO- A motion “to appoint Mike Stack as Trafford Borough’s certified Sewage Enforcement Officer” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilwoman Petersen. Borough Manager Stack stated we recently received a proposal for a possible sewage septic system. The state requires a sewage enforcement officer in order to comply with regulations. Mr. Stack would perform the required inspections. Mike Stack is an employee at Penn-Township and has no relation to myself. Any of his services are to be paid by the applicant.

The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Payment to Motorola- A motion “to approve the payment to Motorola in the amount of $7,993.85 for three new police radios” was made by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilman Cole. Borough Manager Stack stated the radios were budgeted for, the radios have been ordered. The current radios are 20 years old and are obsolete. The current radios will be in disrepair once certain things break on them. We are trying to be proactive, I plan on working with the chief and budgeting additional radios for next year,

Councilman Cardiff questioned how long the lifespan of the radios are. Councilman Shoub stated the current ones are over 20 years old.

The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Recycling Dumpsters- A motion “to remove the three recycling dumpsters, located across from the borough building on Adrian Avenue as soon as possible” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilwoman Peters.

Borough Manager Stack, stated at the May 1, 2018, council meeting she presented council with a waste management bill for a little over $1,000.00 for contaminated recyclables. At that time council decided to see what happens, waste management did forgive the bill as a onetime thing. Waste management stated the borough can either remove the bins, or purchase locks. The borough would then have to have someone oversee the locks. The borough just received a bill for contamination for over $1,700.00 for one month. Manager Stack made a recommendation to have the bins removed.

Councilwoman Morrow questioned if possible, can the borough open up our current waste management contract to include recycling.

Councilman Shoub stated it is very expensive for small communities. Borough Manager Stack, informed council it would be an additional $16.50 a quarter just to add recycling.

Councilman Cardiff reiterated to the public the dumpsters are being misused and the borough is incurring bills.

Councilman Shoub stated the refuse companies used to be able to ship the recyclables to china, there is no longer a market for the items. So now they do not have any way to get rid of the items. The only way to recoup their costs is to buckle down on the communities.

Councilwoman Petersen questioned where residents are to place their recyclables. Borough Manager Stack, stated with the trash unless council decides otherwise.

The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Compensation to Nina Solivan- A motion “to approve compensation to Nina Solivan for $1,500.00 for fulfilling supervisory duties during several time periods when the borough was without a manager” was made by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilman Shoub.

Borough Manager Stack stated before she was hired there was talk about giving the borough secretary a bonus for her work with several time periods between managers Mclaughlin, Finnegan, Sahar and until I was hired. There was a total of about five months which equivalated to $300.00 per month. We have previously done the same with an officer when his acting role is supervisor. I have been working on a policy for everyone when an employee has to fill a supervisory role.

Councilman Cardiff stated this was previously discussed. In the private sector from his own experience when he has to step up and fill a role all he gets is to go back to work the next day and a paycheck.

The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Trafford Cast Iron Sign Placement-

A motion “to discuss the location to hang the original Trafford cast iron sign outside the borough building” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilman Cole.

Three placement pictures were submitted to council one located outside the library on a pole, one located on the library in the façade, and one near the main entrance in the façade.

Councilman Cardiff stated the sign probably would not hold up on the façade. Councilman Shoub suggested public works retrieve the original post on route 130.

Councilwoman Morrow stated the picture near main entrance is the one she’d prefer.

Borough Manager Stack suggested place the sign by the main entrance and use the original pole since it will not be able to be placed on the building.

Councilman Shoub rescinded the motion.

Administrative Reports

Borough Manager- The BY Pond will be stocked tomorrow with 112 pounds of catfish. Five Star Data will be performing our IT services. Sewage bills will be going out this week, with a letter included on why the bills are late and all of the hand-written markings on them.

Code Enforcement- Report was submitted and is on file.

Solicitor- At the last hearing for 501 Cavitt Avenue it was determined the owner was to submit plans to CEA in order to get a building permit. Sidewalk restorations were to be performed at 601 Sixth Street (Mr. Owens property), Mr. Owens’ attorney notified Solicitor Alexander and was directed not to do the sidewalk restoration. Our public works guys were at Mr. Owens’ property to perform the sidewalk restorations and Mr. Owens’ told them to get off of his property. Solicitor Alexander is working on the storm water management ordinance and will have that prepared for next months meeting. Also working on a sewer lateral issue at 355 Homewood Avenue.

EMS- There were fourty-two calls for the month of May with North Huntingdon handling one call.

Trafford VFD- Chief Lindbloom reported there were a total of fifteen calls for the month of May. NFPA has a marking recommendation and regulation for marking unsafe structures. Chief Lindbloom provided council with information regarding the markings.

EMC- No report.

Recreation- Rose Frollini reported the Fairmont playground is almost complete. Playground program starts June 11, 2018 and will be held at Fairmont playground and the Terrace playground.

TECDC- Carol Richardson reported the TECDC is planning on purchasing a bike rack for the BY Park. Borough Manager Stack made a recommendation for ground anchors instead of a concreate pad incase the rack will need to be moved. Ms. Richardson stated she was informed public works will put the rack together and install the ground anchors.

Mayor Llewellyn asked Ms. Richardson if there was something wrong with the sign. Residents have been upset that the events displayed have been over for quite some time. Ms. Richardson reported there have been several issues with the sign and we are working on getting them corrected.

WHT- Rey Peduzzi reported the trail head at Forbes Road has been very active and very well received. There is a volunteer trail group in Trafford that meets every Monday morning, if anyone is interested we could use some help. Mr. Peduzzi is planning soliciting bids to replace the sidewalk at Memorial Park. Councilman Cardiff informed Mr. Peduzzi to work with Ashley on this project. Mr. Peduzzi asked Solicitor Alexander if the memorial group will need to pay prevailing wage. Solicitor Alexander stated as a private group you will not need to pay prevailing wage.

Mayor’s Report- Mayor Llewellyn reported for the month of May there were a total of one hundred and sixty-five service calls, with thirty-eight citations filed and twelve criminal cases filed. Mayor Llewellyn made a recommendation in regards to the BY Park picnic tables to place in the rental agreement no staples in the tables due to being a safety hazard. He informed council he spent six hours removing staples from the tables for his family picnic.

Committee Reports:

Community Development- Councilwoman Peters reported PTARC is hosting a 5K at Bushy Run Park, for more information visit PTARC.org.

Presidents Report- Councilman Cardiff reported he has spoken with George Dunbar on the train situation and Mr. Dunbar will contact Rep. Mike Reese whom is on the transportation committee for the state legislator.

New Business-

Councilwoman Petersen suggested timbering the area behind the South Trafford Ball Fields for income.

A motion “to promote Officer Mike Socci to acting Sargent” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilman Cole.

Councilman Cardiff questioned if this is in the contract, Councilman Shoub stated there is a pay scale for the position not as Sargent and it was already budgeted for.

Councilman Cardiff questioned if Officer Socci will need certifications, Solicitor Alexander stated this is an acting position and certifications do not apply until he would be a permanent appointment.

The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Councilman Cardiff read a letter of resignation from council from Councilman Hockenberry effective June 5, 2018.

A motion “to accept a letter of resignation form Councilman Hockenberry” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilwoman Peters.

Councilman Cardiff stated he has tried to talk Councilman Hockenberry out of his decision, Councilman Hockenberry informed Councilman Cardiff he wants to spend more time with family. Councilman Cardiff stated there have been many quarrels with Councilman Hockenberry and others on council but that is what being on council is about. There are seven seats for a reason, different personalities, knowledges and opinions. Councilman Hockenberry was not shy in voicing his opinion. Councilman Cardiff stated Councilman Hockenberry has done a fantastic job on council always volunteering his time at all of the borough related events, I will miss him.

The motion carried 5-1, Councilwoman Morrow voting no.

Solicitor Alexander stated council has 30 days to fill the vacancy and the next council meeting is within that time period. There are no rules on how the new person will be selected. We can place the vacancy on the website, the marquee and advertise if council decides. If a member is not appointed at the next meeting, the decision will be sent to the vacancy board which consists of the remaining members of council and the vacancy board chair person. If the vacancy board cannot make a decision the vacancy will then be sent to court of common pleas and a judge will appoint an individual.

A motion “to accept letters of interest for the vacant council position due by Wednesday, June 27, 2018, at 4:00 p.m.” was made by Councilman Shoub and seconded by Councilman Cole. The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Councilman Cardiff also stated he personally challenges anyone on social media to get involved and submit letters of interest.

A motion “to recess to executive session” was made by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilman Shoub. The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

A motion “to reconvene from executive session” was made by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilman Shoub. The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Solicitor Alexander informed Mrs. Knapp of Cozy Knapp Time council will not entertain a five-year agreement. Council is willing to extend the Abdulla agreement until the expiration date of May 2019. Then offer Cozy Knapp Time a two-year agreement contingent upon Mr. Abdulla resolving the borough from owing him any additional monies.

Mrs. Knapp questioned why the borough cannot agree to a five-year agreement. Solicitor Alexander stated a five-year is not customary, the reason we allowed Mr. Abdulla a five-year agreement is because he financed the parking lot and this was our way of paying him back.

Mrs. Knapp questioned the maintenance of the lots. Solicitor Alexander stated the borough does perform snow removal, this would be no different than the Abdulla agreement.

A motion “to approve the continuance of Mr. Abdulla’s agreement until it expires in May of 2019, then to enter into a two-year agreement with Cozy Knapp Time at the rate of $10 per month, per 16 spaces for a total of $1920.00 paid annually” was made by Councilwoman Morrow and seconded by Councilman Shoub. The motion carried unanimously 6-0.

Adjournment-

Councilman Cardiff announced the next scheduled meeting will be held Tuesday, July 3, 2018, at 7:00 p.m. in the council chambers.

A motion “to adjourn” was made by Councilwoman Peters and seconded by Councilman Shoub. The motion carried unanimously 6-0.